Container cover with integral seal remover

ABSTRACT

The invention is directed to a container with a removable cap, and the container includes a seal for freshness or tamper-resistance. The cap is manufactured with an integral seal cutter that is rotated to aid in removing the seal and accessing the container contents.

This application is a continuation-in-part of Provisional Application No. 60/773,058 filed Feb. 14, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to containers with freshness or tamper-resistant seals, and more particularly to a container cover with an integral seal remover.

Many products, such as vitamins and dietary supplements, are packaged in containers having a seal secured over the container rim and under a cap. The containers are typically bottles or vials formed of glass or plastic. The container cap engages the neck or rim of the vial with either threads or bayonet-type projections to keep the cap on the container. The inner seal may be a foil or laminate material affixed to the top edge of the container rim by heat sealing or an adhesive.

When a cap joined to the container is removed it is still necessary to remove the seal to get to the contents of the container. In some cases, a tab is formed on the outer circumference of the seal. The tab is intended to be grasped by fingers and pulled upward to facilitate the removal of the seal from the rim of the container. However, the tabs are frequently too small to be grasped or they separate from the seal before the seal can be removed. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a means for removing the inner seal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes the difficulties in opening containers having a freshness seal by providing a container cap with an integral seal remover. The cap includes a lower annular skirt in which the upper portion and rim of the container are normally disposed. The cap also includes a seal cutter joined to an upper portion of the cap. The cutter may be formed integrally with or connected to the cap using any suitable means.

When it is desired to open the container and remove the container seal, the cap is removed and inverted. Once inverted, the cutter is used to puncture the seal and then rotated to cut all or at least a portion of the seal for removal.

The cutter preferably includes one or more blades that perform the cutting. The blades are disposed radially inwardly from an outside edge of the cap and are preferably positioned to cut the seal very close to the container rim, so that most of the seal is removed or can be readily torn away when the cap and cutter are rotated.

The cap may include an upper annular skirt to define a recess in which the cutter is disposed. The cap upper portion may also be concave or have a concave recess joined thereto, in which the cutter is disposed. The upper portion may be resilient so that the cutter is disposed within a recess or the concave recess, but can be forced into contact with the seal when needed. The cutter may also be surrounded by a resilient material that will compress when the cap and cutter are forced into contact with the seal.

The present invention provides apparatus and methods for removing container seals efficiently and safely.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cap and container in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the cap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the cap in FIG. 2 taken along line 3-3;

FIG. 4 is another embodiment of a cap in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is another embodiment of the present invention using a resilient dome-shaped cap portion;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 5 in a retracted position; and

FIG. 7 is a side view of the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6 in a cutting position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, the same reference numeral will be used for the same or similar invention elements depicted in each of the figures. Depicted in FIGS. 1 through 3 is a container 20 and cap 22 in accordance with the present invention.

The container 20 can be used to store any product, including perishable, medicinal, or other product, such as dietary supplements. For such products, the container 20 is generally sealed using a seal 24, which may be made of plastic, paper or a composite material. The seal 24 is secured to a rim 26 of the container 20 to ensure freshness, increase shelf-life, and serve as a tamper resistant protector of the contents. Consequently, the seal 24 is generally fused, heat-sealed or glued securely to the rim 26. The seal 24 does not extend outwardly from the rim 26 a significant amount because it could interfere with the cap 22 attaching to the container 20, and may be difficult to open for some consumers.

The cap 22 is sized and shaped to mate with the container 20, and includes a connector mechanism (not illustrated) for releasably connecting the cap 22 to the container 20. The connector mechanism may include threads, bayonet-style lugs, resilient snaps, or other suitable releasable attachment components. The cap 22 may be made of any suitable material, including plastic, and may have an appropriate gasket or resilient material for engaging the container rim 26 to maintain product freshness after the seal 24 has been removed.

The cap 22 preferably includes an upper portion 30 and a lower portion 32. The lower portion 32 defines a lower cylindrical recess 36 in which the above-described connector and gasket are disposed.

The upper portion 30 may also define an upper recess 38 that is segregated from the lower recess 36 by a wall 40. The wall 40 in the illustrated embodiment is essentially disk-shaped, but could be any shape to match the cap 22 or provide a unique appearance. Within the upper recess 38 and joined to the wall 40 is a seal cutter 44. In the preferred embodiment, the seal cutter 44 includes a number of blades 46 joined to and extending away from the wall 40. As illustrated, the blades 46 are generally triangular-shaped and are four in number, although other shapes and numbers of blades could be used. The blades 46 are spaced radially inwardly from the upper portion 30 at a distance to ensure that the blades 46 will have clearance for the container rim 26. Preferably, the blades 46 are spaced radially outwardly from the center of the cap 22 at a distance that substantially matches the container 20 opening size so that the blades 46 will cut seal 24 adjacent to the rim 26 and effectively remove the entire seal 24.

In the alternative or in addition to the blades 46, the seal cutter 44 of the present invention can include elements such as blades 46 that are joined to the inner surface 48 of the upper portion 30.

The seal cutter 44 is depicted as having four blades 46, but only one cutter element is necessary. Increasing the number of blades 46 simply reduces the degree of rotation necessary to cut the seal 24 for removal.

The blades 46 need only extend away from the wall 40 a short amount such as about 0.075 inches to engage a seal 24 on the top of the container 20 opening, and include edges 47 for engaging and cutting, ripping or tearing the seal 24 as the cap 22 is rotated. The blades 46 need only be as sharp as necessary to pierce and remove at least part of the seal 24. As a result, the blades 46 may be sharp enough to pierce the seal, but blunt enough to not cut, abrade, or hurt a consumer's hand when operating the cap 22 to open or close the container 20. Nonetheless, as depicted in FIG. 4, it may be desirable to protect the cutter 44 or the user with a cutter cover 50 that snaps or otherwise mates with the upper portion 30. The cover 50 can be attached to the cap 22 using a flexible strap 52.

In the alternative, the blades 46 could be manufactured to be flexible so that they can be folded over when not in use or broken off after they have been used to remove the seal 24.

FIGS. 5 to 7 illustrate yet another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the cap 22 includes a concave and flexible disk 60 disposed in the lower recess 36, but in contact with the upper portion 30 of the cap 22. The blades 46 are formed integrally with or otherwise connected to the concave and flexible disk 60. In this embodiment, any number of blades 46 could be used.

The upper portion 30 of the cap 22 is also slightly flexible so that when pressure is applied to the upper portion 30, it flexes enough to cause the disk 60 to change from a concave shape (FIGS. 5 and 6) to a convex shape (FIG. 7).

The blades 46 are directed toward the seal 24, but are not in contact with the seal 24 prior to sale of the product. When desired to remove the seal 24, pressure is applied to the upper portion 30 of the cap 22 to invert the disk 60 to a convex shape and force the blades 46 into cutting contact with the seal 24.

The resiliency of the disk 60 enables the use of blades 46 that extend downwardly when not in use (FIG. 6), yet will engage the seal 24 when moderate pressure is applied to the cap 22 upper portion 30 by the user to change the shape of the disk 60 and force the blades 46 into cutting engagement with the seal 24 (FIG. 7). In this embodiment, the user's hands are protected from contact with the blades 46 when removing or replacing the cap 22, but the disk's 60 resiliency enables hand pressure to force the blades 46 into cutting engagement with the seal 24. The spacing of the blades 46 in this embodiment, like those above, preferably mates the blades 46 with the container 20 opening so that most of the seal 24 is removed by the cutter 44.

Activating the disk 60 before sale of the product can also be prevented by shipping and selling the container 20 in a box (not illustrated) or with a cover similar to the cap 50 described above and illustrated in FIG. 4.

Also in the alternative, a resilient material (not illustrated) could be disposed in the upper cylindrical recess 38 to embed all or at least part of the seal cutter 44 so that the seal cutter 44 does not extend outwardly enough to pose a risk of injuring a consumer. The resilient material is, however, resilient enough so that when the seal cutter 44 is pushed toward the seal 24, the resilient material would be compressed and the blades 46 would pierce and remove the seal 24. Once the seal 24 is at least partially cut, the resilient material expands to shield the seal cutter 44 from the consumer.

The function of the seal cutter 44 is to cut some or all of the seal 24 for a consumer to access the contents of the container 20. In operation, the cap 22 is joined to the container 20 with the connector mechanism engaging a mating connector element (not illustrated) on the container 20. In that position, the rim 26 of the container 20 is disposed in the lower cylindrical recess 36 defined by the lower annular skirt portion 32. This is the normal position for the container 20 and cap 22 for sales and storage purposes.

After purchase and prior to accessing the contents of the container 20 for the first time, the cap 22 is removed and inverted so that the seal cutter 44 engages the seal 24 and the blades 46 pierce the seal 24. The cap 22 is then rotated to cut at least a portion of the seal 24 to remove the seal 24 or at least make removing the seal 24 easier.

The cap 22, including all of the elements described above, is preferably made of plastic and is molded with all or most of the elements as an integral unit. The cap 22 could also be manufactured in stages and have multiple components.

This detailed description of the invention is provided for clearness of understanding the invention, and no unnecessary limitations therefrom should be read into the following claims. 

1. A cap for a container, the container having a rim and a seal joined to the rim, the cap comprising: an upper portion and a lower portion, the lower portion including a container connector to releasably engage the container; and a seal cutter joined to the cap, the seal cutter defining an edge for cutting the container seal as the cap is rotated.
 2. The cap of claim 1, wherein the seal cutter comprises: a plurality of blades.
 3. The cap of claim 1, and further comprising: a wall between the upper portion and the lower portion; and the seal cutter comprising: a blade joined to the wall.
 4. The cap of claim 1, wherein the upper portion comprises: an upper annular skirt defining an upper recess in which the seal cutter is disposed.
 5. The cap of claim 1, and further comprising: a wall between the upper portion and the lower portion; and an upper annular skirt defining an upper recess in which the seal cutter is joined to the wall.
 6. The cap of claim 1, and further comprising: a wall joined to and disposed between the upper portion and the lower portion, and an upper annular skirt defining an upper recess in which the seal cutter is disposed; and the seal cutter comprises a plurality of blades.
 7. The cap of claim 1, wherein the seal cutter is substantially concave in shape.
 8. The cap of claim 1, wherein the seal cutter is substantially concave in shape and resilient for moving to a convex shape.
 9. The cap of claim 1, wherein the seal cutter is spaced radially outwardly from a center of the cap at a distance that substantially matches a radius of the container opening.
 10. A method for removing at least a portion of a seal from a container rim using a removable cap for the container, wherein the method comprises: removing the cap from the container to expose the container seal; inverting the cap; engaging the container seal with a seal cutter formed integrally with the cap and defining an edge; and rotating the seal cutter to remove at least a portion of the seal.
 11. The method of claim 10, and further comprising the step of: rotating the cap a complete revolution to cut at least a portion of the container seal.
 12. The method of claim 10, and further comprising the step of: rotating the cap less than a complete revolution to cut at least a portion of the container seal. 